Brilliant Makers – Classroom Teacher - AccessArt: Sharing Visual Arts Inspiration

If you are a classroom teacher you can set up a Brilliant Makers club within your school setting, either as an after school or lunchtime club. Find out all you need to know below.

working collaboratively - Linton Heights Junior School with teacher Kirsty webb - Inspire - Fitz

Everything you need to know about Brilliant Makers Clubs

What are Brilliant Makers Clubs?

For many years AccessArt has been working hard to highlight the importance of hands-on, creative activities for all, and through our co-created resources we have shown we really can help raise standards in art education.

Our network of Brilliant Makers Clubs, join together individuals; schools and organisations who recognise the importance of making as a vital part of a child’s education and life long learning.

Our motto is “Making is important. Knowing how to use tools, and materials, is key to unlocking the imagination and has potential to transform the world.”

Scroll down to find out everything you need to know, including how to Register a Club and how AccessArt will support you!

Don’t forget to sign our Pledge to Brilliant Makers!
Who are Brilliant Makers Clubs for?

We are currently campaigning for more making opportunities for school aged children from early years until the end of key stage three.

We believe that making should be integrated into school learning, on a regular basis, for all children, to support and enhance learning, exploration and discovery across all key areas, subjects and curriculums.

Making opportunities can be further developed in the form of after-school clubs and lunch time making clubs, as well as clubs in the community and museums, libraries, galleries, studios and colleges.
When can they take place?

We invite all schools to host a Brilliant Makers Club, to provide vital learning opportunities for pupils who are keen makers or who learn through doing.

As a classroom teacher, you could run a club for your class during school time, allocating a session per week for making where children can build skills and work on extended project.

The making could compliment topic work or other areas of the curriculum (making modroc Egyptian mummies for example) but keep in mind that making for its own sake has a value of its own.

A club could also be run as an after school, and you may be able to enlist the help of a parent volunteer or teaching assistant. Ask around the parents of your class – are any of them arts specialists?
What kind of activities might take place in a Brilliant Makers Club?

We want to encourage hands-on, creative, open-ended learning. It’s up to you how you interpret that, but we hope to encourage more opportunities for children to explore making, including; sculpture, materials, 3D processes, D&T and design through making.

Making can and should be an integrated vehicle for learning across all subject and topic areas and curriculums.

Members of AccessArt will be able to benefit from over 850 resources to inspire creativity as well as especially selected AccessArt Resources to Support Brilliant Making.
How are Brilliant Makers Clubs funded?

During this time of continued austerity and cuts to the arts, we recognise that we have to look creatively how making opportunities can be funded.

Some schools in our network have ring-fenced pupil premium funding for Brilliant Makers Workshops. The workshops have been of huge benefit for targeted children, who benefited from learning new skills and a higher pupil:teacher ratio.

We know of schools who’s PTA have fundraised for a Brilliant Makers Club in their school.

Some schools will support paid after-school clubs to cover workshop costs, including artist fees and materials.

AccessArt has no funding to support Brilliant Makers Clubs and our campaign to make making happen in schools.

Please consider becoming an AccessArt Member (monthly £3.50 or annual £42), to help support our work promoting Brilliant Makers Clubs in schools and creating resources to support you.
How will AccessArt support your Brilliant Makers Club?

All Brilliant Makers Clubs, registered with AccessArt will appear on the See the Brilliant Makers Clubs page.

By signing up to Brilliant Makers, you will receive AccessArt’s regular newsletters, which we hope will help inspire your club’s activity with latest resources and creative challenges for you to join in with.

We will provide all clubs with a digital badge to be displayed on any promotional material (digital or physical) relating to your clubs.

Members of AccessArt will be able to benefit from over 850 resources to inspire creativity as well as especially selected AccessArt Resources to Support Brilliant Making.
Is there a fee to start a Brilliant Makers Club?

No, there is no fee payable to AccessArt to register a club.

If you are not already, you might want to consider becoming an AccessArt Member (monthly £3.50 or annual £42), with membership benefits including access to over 750 inspirational resources.
What responsibilities are attached to running a Brilliant Makers Club?

As part of the registration process we expect you to run clubs in a professional, fair manner.

You must be DBS checked, and agree to host clubs which do not discriminate.

We expect participants to be kept safe at all times and you must hold appropriate insurance.

We provide guidance on these matters (see links below).

Please read the Brilliant Makers Clubs Summary Guidelines here.

AccessArt does not underwrite the Brilliant Makers Clubs in any way.
Brilliant Makers Club Summary Guidelines

By registering a Brilliant Makers Club, you agree:
- Participants are kept safe.
- Workshops are appropriately insured.
- Ensure workshop leaders are DBS checked.
- To run the clubs in a fair and professional manner, with no tolerance for discrimination.
- To reflect and acknowledge the AccessArt philosophy of creative, open-ended, non-didactic learning.
- To provide appropriate creative learning opportunities for your chosen target audience.
- To include the words “Brilliant Makers” in the title of your club. For example, The Brilliant Makers Club at Sefton School, ArtyWorks Brilliant Makers Club, or The Saturday Art School, part of the Brilliant Makers Network.
- To display the Brilliant Makers Club badge which we will supply on any promotional material (printed or digital) or information relating to the clubs.
- When appropriate, to use #BrilliantMakers on any social media.
You understand that:
- AccessArt cannot financially support the clubs.
- AccessArt does not underwrite the clubs in anyway, nor is AccessArt responsible for club activities or delivery.
- AccessArt cannot recompense any clubs/individuals in the event of cancellations.
- Your club can run in any location or venue, at any time, with any audience (closed or open).
- Your club can be in any part of the world.
- You can make a charge to participants or clubs can be free to attend.
- You have the choice to share content of clubs via photographs and text, if you choose to, on the AccessArt website, if you have permission of those concerned.
AccessArt can help create good practice in clubs via:
- Email advice,
- Guidelines published on AccessArt.org.uk.
- AccessArt will aim to inspire activity in the clubs:
  Through the 750+ resources on the Accessart site.
- Via the AccessArt newsletter.
AccessArt can help market your club:
Via the See The Brilliant Makers Clubs page.

Brilliant Makers Club Summary Guidelines.
Apply to run a Brilliant Makers Club or register your existing club

Now that you know all about Brilliant Makers Clubs, follow this link to register your club and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can with next steps.

Apply to Run a Brilliant Makers Club
Make a pledge to Brilliant Makers!

Do you believe in the power of making?

AccessArt does!

We believe that making and developing the ability to work, and think with one’s hands, is a crucial skill and should be nurtured from cradle to grave.

If you are a teacher, artist educator or head teacher – please take the Brilliant Makers’ pledge and say:

‘I believe in the power of making!’*

*By using the Brilliant Makers Digital Badge, you are making a pledge that you:

*believe in making,

*agree that learning to use tools is a vital part of a child’s education,

*believe in thinking through doing and learning through exploring materials.

Make a Pledge to Brilliant Makers